History Main / NightVisionGoggles

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/GhostSquad'': The Night-vision and "thermal vision" goggles are different. This fails to explain the fact that all parts of a being are red, including their clothes, while ''everything'' else is the same shade of blue.

* The 1992 Family Channel version of ''Zorro'' used a primitive night-vision device in Season 1 Episode 4, a tube that removed all color from what he was viewing to make it easier to pick out contrast.

* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}: High-Tech'' differentiates night vision and thermograph. By the time of ''Ultra-Tech'' the night vision du jour is hyperspectral imaging (UV, visible, IR).

* ''TabletopGames/SorceryAndSuperSciencePostApocalypticRolePlaying!'' One item of pre-collapse equipment available to {{PC}}s is night vision goggles that generate infrared light and allow the user to see using it. The wearer has a 45 degree width of vision and can see a maximum of 150 yards in complete darkness.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Tales of the Space Princess}}'' RPG. While wearing the Super Science device Night Goggles, a character can see in the dark anything within 20 yards. They function for 1 hour before needing to be recharged.
* Common in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', where most power armor has night vision built in, Guardsmen carry NVGs, Tyranids have enhanced vision and Daemons see peoples souls rather than by any light. None of this helps much in night fighting though...

* ''VideoGame/SplinterCell''

** ''Double Agent'' gave players who complete all side objectives an enhanced night vision that can see in color, the technology for which didn't exist until almost half a year after the game released. It's worth noting that almost every game in the series takes place around two years into the future from the date in which they're released.
* All games in ''[[VideoGame/{{Stalker}} S.T.A.L.K.E.R.]]'' feature these, in two versions: the blurry, green-tinted "image intensifier" ones, found in cheaper suits and helmets, and a more expensive version that turns everything blue without losses in resolution (they're all green in ''Call of Pripyat'', the only difference is the resolution). Graphical enhancement mods more often than not change the better kind of goggles to show an infrared-style black-and-white image.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''Website/SCPFoundation'', [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2099 SCP-2099 ("Brain in a Jar").]] One of SCP-2099's inventions is night vision goggles that work even when there's no light at all. Normal [=NVGs=] require at least a tiny amount of light to magnify.
* ''WebVideo/UnwantedHouseguest'': The protagonist of Episode Eleven of "TRUE Scary Stories" uses the Night Mode on his camera. He notes that the benefits of this feature on a consumer-grade camera are limited.

* ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'' has night-vision goggles as an item that tinted everything green and wasn't useful for navigating in the dark, but it was great for detecting enemies, as it made them stick out like a sore thumb [[{{Metaphorgotten}} if it was painted phosphorescent green]]. There are also secret messages on the walls (usually hinting at a secret area) which become visible only when viewed through the goggles. Later games got the "starlight scope" functionality right.

* ''Frnachise/JurassicPark'':

* [[SerialKiller Buffalo Bill]] uses these to stalk his victims in TheFilmOfTheBook ''Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs''.

* ''Film/JurassicPark1993'' actually uses starlight-scope goggles correctly. In ''Film/JurassicWorld'', [[spoiler:another pair of the exact same model is found by Zach and Gray in the ruins of the old Visitor's Center, though they don't use it]].

* [[WhatCouldHaveBeen The press release beta]] of ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' showed the Light Amplification Visor powerup as acting like [=NVGs=], colormapping the screen green[[note]]similar to how the {{Invulnerability|PowerUp}} colors everything inverted black and white[[/note]]. The idea was ultimately scrapped because the limited shades made it counterproductively ''harder'' to see by, so the effect was scrapped in favor of [[NuclearCandle making everything fullbright]]. A revised and improved version of the night vision effect[[note]]fullbright effect with green tints, with enemy sprites colormapped phosphorescent green[[/note]] is an option in [[https://zdoom.org/index the GZDoom source port.]]

* ''[[VideoGame/Ashes2063 Ashes Afterglow]]'' has night-vision goggles as an inventory item. When activated, they turn the player's view fullbright and in a uniform shade of green, with slight distortion at the edges. They last 120 seconds and cannot be recharged -- the only way to refill it is by finding or buying another set -- but they're your only way to see in the dark from afar or while holding a two-handed weapon, as Scav's rechargeable solar lantern has limited range and can only be wielded alongside the crowbar, one of the handguns or the machine pistol.

* ''VideoGame/{{Blood}} II: The Chosen'' adds these as part of its TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture setting. They're piss-poor at actual navigation, putting everything into dull and dark green tones with little to no shade distinction, but they're perfect to light up hard-to-see enemies by painting them very bright green. [[TenSecondFlashlight Their battery also gives out after 50 seconds of uptime]], even though the manual claims otherwise.

** The original ''Ghost Recon'' series uses standard starlight vision. ''VideoGame/GhostReconFutureSoldier'' adds a ''Splinter Cell'-esque combo of night vision and thermal imaging, both goggle-based and as an optional scope attachment for some guns, as well as backscatter X-ray, also available as an optional scope for some guns or as goggles labeled as "magnetic" vision, which are some strange combination of a real backscatter X-ray and magic.

* The season 3 premier of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' shows [[CloudCuckoolander Pinkie]] wearing a pair of "night vision goggles"[[note]]glass and metal steampunk spectacles with no electronics[[/note]]... [[SunglassesAtNight during the day]]. [[TooDumbToLive She quickly crashes into a light post due to being unable to see]].

* A major gameplay mechanic in ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{OutlastII}}'' is the camcorder's night vision setting, so you can see in the games' many pitch-black areas. It uses common household batteries, but eats through them really quickly; if the battery is depleted, the NV's reach is severely diminished. In ''VideoGame/{{TheOutlastTrials}}'', it reverts to actual night vision goggles, albeit the goggles are actually fixed onto the Reagents' heads.

* A major gameplay mechanic in ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{OutlastII}}'' is the camcorder's night vision setting, so you can see in the games' many pitch-black areas. It uses common household batteries, but eats through them really quickly; if the battery is depleted, the NV's reach is severely diminished. In ''VideoGame/{{TheOutlastTials}}'', it reverts to actual night vision goggles, albeit the goggles are actually fixed onto the Reagents' heads.

* A major gameplay mechanic in ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}'' is the camcorder's night vision setting, so you can see in the games' many pitch-black areas. It uses common household batteries, but eats through them really quickly; if the battery is depleted, the NV's reach is severely diminished.

* The movie ''Film/JurassicPark'' actually uses starlight-scope goggles correctly. In ''Film/JurassicWorld'', [[spoiler:another pair of the exact same model is found by Zach and Gray in the ruins of the old Visitor's Center, though they don't use it]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Blood}} II: The Chosen'' adds these as part of its TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture setting. They're piss-poor at actual navigation, putting everything into dull and dark green tones with little to no shade distinction, but they're perfect to light up hard-to-see enemies by painting them very bright green. [[TenSecondFlashlight Their battery also gives out after 50 seconds of uptime]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Blood}} II: The Chosen'' adds these as part of its TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture setting. Like ''Duke Nukem 3D'' they're piss-poor at actual navigation, putting everything into dull and dark green tones, but they're perfect to light up hard-to-see enemies by painting them very bright green. [[TenSecondFlashlight Their battery also gives out after 50 seconds of uptime]], so if you actually need to navigate a dark area you're better off using the flashlight or [[MuzzleFlashlight shooting off the flare gun]].

* ''VideoGame/Alice2022'': The [[PlayerCharacter Player Character]]'s video camera has a night-vision function that can be turned on and off with the push of a button.

** ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' later introduced a helmet-equipped night vision, which interestingly was tinted purple instead of green for the Covenant. ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'' also had the [=VISR=], which could function as a sort of night vision, though it's primary use is in highlighting enemies.

** Fanmade [[GameMod Custom Campaign]]''VideoGame/SPV3'' features [=VISR=] as an armour upgrade alongside Sprint and Health Regen.
** ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' later introduced a helmet-equipped night vision, which interestingly was tinted purple instead of green for the Covenant. ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'' also had the [=VISR=], which could function as a sort of night vision.
* ''VideoGame/JetForceGemini'': Lupus finds a pair of Night Vision Goggles during his travel within Mizar's Palace. Upon getting them, he can stand onto a green pad that opens the gate to a very dark underground maze, [[PlatformActivatedAbility at which point the effect of the goggles activates]] (making the game's screen turn green). From there, Lupus can explore the maze and defeat the Drones along the way until reaching the bright exit, no longer needing the goggles.

** The first two games feature both types of goggles, reasonably accurately. There's a red, static-washed view of the environment with bright red for hot objects when using the IR scope, and a brightened, greenish-grey view for the "night vision" starlight scope. Alas, they switch to a "Predator-vision" IR scope for the "Special Edition" of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', and didn't go back until ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', where they updated to the newer NVG models, with the greyish green scheme. Though it's called "NVG", it actually seems to work by detecting heat, rather than amplifying light, since it works just fine out in the sun.

** There are actual newer Night Vision devices which make use of thermal night vision similar to Snake's solid eye. So it could be that the solid eye's night vision mode is merely one of these. It produces the exact same effect that MGO's ENVG (Enhanced Night Vision Goggles) looks like, so this would make sense.
** [[WalkingTank Gekko]] are equipped with these in their main eye atop their heads that can easily see you even with the [[BraggingRightsReward stealth camouflage]] item equipped, the only thing that fools them a great deal is Old Snake's newest addition which is his [[StealthyCephalopod OctoCamo suit]] which perfectly mimics not only his nearest surroundings, but the temperature as well, fooling their otherwise nearly-flawless sight.
* ''VideoGame/MetalHead'' have a stage set at night, and one area have you battling enemy robots while the street lights are out. Luckily, your giant robot have it's own night-vision mode, which activates automatically turning the screen green.

* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' features an infrared scope for a rifle which makes most of the world dark purple and renders enemies in yellows and reds. The accuracy of the perceived colors are rather inconsistent; The enormous, boiling furnaces encountered not long after you get it are also dark purple, while breakable (inanimate) item containers are the same reds and yellows as living organisms. On the other hand, torches and lightbulbs are very bright red, and lightning flashes do turn the sky red for brief periods.

** In addition, later games in the series introduce electromagnetic and movement detection scopes, also in the same set of goggles as the combined .

* ''VideoGame/{{Blood}} II: The Chosen'' adds these as part of its TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture setting. Like ''Duke Nukem 3D'' they're piss-poor at actual navigation, putting everything into dull and dark green tones, but they're perfect at lighting up hard-to-see enemies by painting them a very ''bright'' shade of green. Their battery also gives out after less than a minute of uptime, so if you actually need to navigate a dark area you're better off using the flashlight or [[MuzzleFlashlight shooting off the flare gun]].

* ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' immediately jumps to mind, as there was one item which reduced the size of the viewport, tinted it green without making it any brighter, and vanished after about 90 seconds. The upgraded nightvision 'implants' made people and robots glow brightly, and could be used to view people through walls (though the latter was not thermal imaging based).

* In ''VideoGame/FarCry1'', the nightvision goggles show living things in hypnotic false-color, while the background plants and earth are in blue-green starlight-scope vision -- a melding of two completely different technologies, which is nonetheless quite feasible given that ''Far Cry'' is clearly TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture and [[http://www.defensetech.org/archives/003732.html such systems]] [[ScienceMarchesOn are becoming available right now for military use]]. Though technically, they're [=CryTek=] goggles which show you [[WeWillUseWikiWordsInTheFuture CryVision]] - the devs were quite conscious of the fact that they were not portraying night-vision accurately, [[ArtisticLicense and did not actually make any pretense of doing so]].

* A major gameplay mechanic in ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}'' is managing the battery life of your camcorder so you can use its night vision setting to see in the game's many pitch-black areas.